How To Hide Your Friends On Facebook (No Matter What Version)

January 26, 2012byDeborah Anderson

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Yes, I realize that this “How To” will become obsolete when all of us have the *new* Facebook timeline and the *old* is just a memory of what once was, but, for now, there are two very different, yet very similar methods to hide that friend list.

Some of you may be asking *why* anyone would want to hide a friend list. I mean, don’t you want to brag about how many “friends” you have and who you know? Not necessarily. There are two reasons, right off the top of my head that would cause someone to want to hide their friend list:

They do not want “other” friends soliciting new business or “collecting friends” using their friend list, or

They do not want another “Hatfield and McCoy” feud when this person finds out they are friends with that person and so on and so forth.

So, without further adieu, here are the steps to hide your “Facebook Friends List” from, yes, even your friends, no matter which version of Facebook you are currently using.

“Old” Facebook Version (non-Timeline)

Click on your avatar/name in the upper right corner of your browser.

Click on the “Edit Profile” button that will appear right below the same section of your browser.

Click on “Friends and Family” to the left side of your screen.

You will see some avatars of some of your friends, next to “Friends” section and a little Facebook globe icon, with the option to pull-down to select “Only Me” (which will hide the friend list from everyone but you). You may also select one of the other options if you do not want such restrictive privacy on your friend list.

To test it, click on “View as…” which is to the right of the “View My Profile” button. Now you can select one of your friends to see how *they* will see your profile. So, for example, if your friend list is hidden from everyone except you, when you use the “view as” feature and select *any* friend, you shouldn’t be able to see the friends on your list.

“New” Facebook Version (Timeline)

Click on your avatar/name in the upper right corner of your browser.

Click on the “See All” right above your Friends section.

Click on “Edit” button on the right side, above the list of friends.

When you click on the “Edit” button, you will get a pull-down menu and will be able to select “Only Me” (which will hide the friend list from everyone but you). You may also select one of the other options if you do not want such restrictive privacy on your friend list.

To test it, return back to your profile (clicking on the avatar/name in the upper right) and click on “View as…” which will be right below your canvas picture at the top, to the right. Now you can select one of your friends to see how *they* will see your profile. So, for example, if your friend list is hidden from everyone except you, when you use the “view as” feature and select *any* friend, you shouldn’t be able to see the friends on your list.

Deborah is the "secret" SEO ninja and internet marketer from the very beginning (and sought after by the legendary Corey Rudl and other industry pioneering greats). Take advantage of her knowledge, including the download of a non-SEO (but needed!) "Boost Your Energy" ebook (absolutely free!).

I am on timeline and did the \’only me can see\”but when I asked a buddy to look.. she can still see my count. If I look without being a friend, no count.is there a way to show NO COUNT when a friend looks?

thank you for getting back to me! she sees the friend list and she said the number of friends. But I’m wondering if the number she see’s is the number we have in common. I had someone else look and that is what they saw.. the number of friends in common between us

Twitter: SocialWebCafeSure thing 😉 Yes, the list will always show the mutual friends, so that is intentional behavior by Facebook. But, it shouldn’t show friends who are not mutual.deborah recently posted..#ggChat May 2012 by SocialWebCafe

Twitter: SocialWebCafeHi Liz, I have it set up the way it is listed here and my quantity of friends doesn’t show, only the quantity of mutual friends. But, if I understand you correctly, it is showing total number of friends for people looking at your Facebook profile?

Yes, it shows the total number of friends. What it says is “mutual friends (120)” (120 is my total number of facebook friends) and then shows the pictures of the 3 or 4 people who are actually mutual friends. I want to hide that total number. Are you saying you don’t have the total number showing? If a person only has 3 mutual friends does it just say “mutual friends (3)”?

Twitter: SocialWebCafeThe best way to work with one-at-a-time situations is to use blocking. Otherwise, you could consider the option of keeping the entire list private, so that there are not “questions” pointed your direction and if you have another friend that wants to connect with someone you may know, connect them via PM or friend suggestion.

Well that is a general thing for old users but when i came to know most of my friends who were using facebook for years didn’t know about it, i was shocked! then i surfed to find out about it over internet and damn.. most of people dont know that. Hope your article will help many 🙂
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About Deborah

Deborah is the "secret" SEO ninja and internet marketer from the very beginning (and sought after by the legendary Corey Rudl and other industry pioneering greats). Take advantage of her knowledge, including the download of a non-SEO (but needed!) "Boost Your Energy" ebook (absolutely free!).